We can only hope.
If there is a single, overriding driver for everything that Senate Republicans are bringing to the Impeachment trial, it is the commitment to get it all over with as fast as possible. Mitch McConnell, at first, wanted to compress proceedings even further than they have been, using 12 hours days for presentment of evidence and arguments.
Before I retired, I spent most of four decades as a lawyer conducting hearings and trials in courtrooms, state and federal, all over the USA. I never, once, encountered a situation as abbreviated and condensed as what I now observe taking place in the U.S. Senate.
We can only assume that the Republicans in charge of the process believe a short trial to be the right tactic, politically. To the extent that, after the trial is over, Impeachment and a debate, about Trump’s removal from office, will no longer be the wall-to-wall news dominating the cycle, I can understand their calculation.
However, by adopting this strategy, Republicans have denied themselves access to meaningful feedback about how the House Managers’ evidence and arguments have influenced the voting public. There hasn’t been enough time for the polling and other reactions to these proceedings to inform the Senators, or any of us, regarding how this is playing out in the marketplace of ideas. If the gavel comes down on the trial early next week and the votes acquitting Trump come down from the GOP majority, we will still be days away from being able to make meaningful judgments about the electorate’s reaction to the case that the House Manager’s have so effectively presented in their part of the trial.
I speculate that during the next two weeks or so, sentiment favoring the removal of Donald Trump certainly could and obviously should blossom like red algae on a Tampa beach. If this proves accurate, purple state Senators who vote shield Trump from removal will see their support slip into free fall, while even red state Senators will, at least, see their popularity sag. If this transpires, given the dismal GOP Senate map for 2020, the GOP Senate’s decision to give Trump tactical cover will produce an epic strategic failure that creates a new, blue, Senate Democratic majority.
We can only hope.